Theaters, summer hits, and movies to come

Welcome, new students, to MSU and to Wichita Falls (if you’re not local to the area). Now, if you’re like me and you came from a bigger city filled with more to do, then you might come to be a little bored within the next four years. Don’t worry. You have me, Tyler Manning. I am here to inform you, the average college student, on a very specific thing you can do to pass the time: watch movies.

There are two movie theaters here in Wichita Falls: Cinemark and AMC Classic Sikes Center. Both are part of well-established movie theater franchises and both provide different film-watching experiences. Cinemark is located on the corner of Kell Blvd. and Kemp Blvd. and is a good-sized location. It is a standard movie theater with around 14 screening rooms. For the most part, Cinemark is relatively clean and has comfortable seating.

AMC Classic Sikes Center is located in the Sikes Center Mall on Midwestern Parkway. With only 10 screening rooms, AMC Classic Sikes Center is smaller in comparison to Cinemark. AMC Classic Sikes Center is exactly what you would expect from a movie theater located in the mall of a small town in Texas — the screens are small, the layout is dated and often the theater isn’t as clean as its competitor. There is a stale stench in the screening rooms and the seats aren’t entirely comfortable.

If you would like my recommendation, I would suggest that you go to the Cinemark for most of your viewing experiences. However, there are movies that will only show at the AMC and if you’re not willing to drive to Dallas to see it, then AMC is your best bet.

Baby Driver is a heist movie brought to us by talented film director Edgar Wright. The movie is incredibly entertaining, has a killer score and is extremely well-directed.

Andy Serkis and Devyn Dalton in War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). Photo courtesy of IMDB.

War for the Planet of the Apes, the final entry in the recent Planet of the Apes franchise. This movie is a beautiful, poignant film that not only is a fitting end to the Planet of the Apes trilogy but also a great film on its own merits.

As for the films that we have to look forward to in the coming months, it looks like the horror movie season is about to be upon us with two of the biggest releases expected to Itand Annabelle: Creation.

If you’re ever curious as to whether a movie you were thinking of watching is worth your hard earned money, check out the weekly paper for my review of the latest films.